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>3 IS   .fith   PIVZ
TUESDAY
September 21, 1993
Volume 16, Number 9
Serving the University of Texas at San Antonio Community
Texas' ONLY Independent Student Newspaper
UTSA mentor program receives recognition
6y Brian WhMlsr
News Editor
The UTSA Mentor program was rec¬ ognized last week by the San Antonio Area Mentoring Association (SAMA) for excelli nee during the fall '92 and qiring '93 academic year. UTSA was presented the award for "Outstanding Mentorship in Higher Education" by SAMA.
The mentorship program was founded at UTSA in 19881^ Dr. Norma Guerra who now serves as the associate vice president for administration and plan¬ ning. The mentor program niginated and still remains within the auspices of the Tomas Rivera Office of Student In¬ formation and Retention located on the first floor of the John Peace Library (JPL).
During the summer '92 semester Mary CuUinan was named the new men¬ tor coordinator for the university. Aid¬ ing her was graduate studentCanri Flores and John Wallace, student development q)ecialist, both working in the office of student infomation and retention.
The mentiM' program woiks on the concept that students, mainly incoming freshmen ot transfer students who de¬ sire help in adjusting to the new UTSA environment, would be assigned a per¬ sonal yet professional counselor/friend. The students wanting help are called prot6g6s, the counselors called mentors.
In describing the role of a mentor, Cullinan said, "A mentor is a resource person. Theyanswerquestionsandpoint them in the right direction."
Cullinan staled that at orienlation new students are told about the ment(»ship IHOgram and interest groups are foimed from those students wanting mentoring.
Summer '92 maiked the fu^t use of interest sessions during orientation. Although information sessions are held
at orientation, Cullinan said, "Any stu¬ dent on campus can have a mentOT. You don't have to have a problem to need or want a mentor. The idea is to have a friendly face on campus, someone to pick you up and tell you things will be okay."
Cullinan described a mentor as "a loyal, trusted adviser to develop a sup¬ portive relationship with at UTSA."
Mentors are volunteers and receive about one to two hours of training before being assigned a prot6g6. Wallace ex¬ plained the training for mentors reminds them to be careful to cover mwe than academics. Wallace said, "We don't expect mentors to be their academic counselors. We just want to provide personal professional relationships to offset the bureaucratic feeling most stu¬ dents get" Prot6g6s are required to have a shorter training session lasting ap¬ proximately 35 to 4S minutes.
Once a mentor is trained, he or she is matched up with a prol6g€ based on similarities such as area or expertise, major and gender. Most students are matched with a mentcv of the same gen¬ der to help maintain professional rela¬ tionships. Afterbeing assigned, prot^g^ contact mentors to arrange meetings to discuss a prot£g6's integration into uni¬ versity life or other subject. Mentors usually give up two hours a month to meet with their prot6g6s on campus. The light and flexible time requirements are ^Jpealing to those individuals who want to contribute to the university with¬ out making major sacrifices in terms of time.
Previously, only faculty and staff were allowed to be mentors. This summer marked the first use of alumni as men¬ tors on the campus. The program started accepting graduates, senicvs, and jun¬ iors this fall to serve as mentors. Cullinan com. on pg. 2
London Semester offered
for spring 1994
llie London Semester is a program of overseas study open to all UTSA Students in good standing. The program provides the opportunity for students to live in London for a semester and to take courses from a business or a humanities comcnlum. Courses we taught by faculty members fiom UTSA and other pfliticq»ting Texas universities. AU courses carry UTSA credit and are designed to take fiill advantage of the uniqiie historical setting of London and its rich cultural and educational resowces.
Nonacademic suf^xirt services are provided by the American Institute fw Foreign Study (AlFS), an organization which has provided overseas study and tiavel programs since 1964. The AlFS makes arrangements for room, board, and educational facilities, provides infomiation about and coordinates optional tours, and, in goieral. assists students in gming the most from the London experience. . Students who enroll in the London Semester Program will live in central London and may select donratmy accommodations or live with a British family. Courses wiU be taight at the University of London Student Union which is located in the Bloomsbury area of London, just a short walk fiom the British Museum.
Students may particqnie in a full range of subsidized social/cultural activities, inchiding theatrical plays and visits to the British Museum, Pariiament, andother sites of interest. Weekly escorted day-trips are available to Oxford, Cambridge, Sumehenge, Stratford, Greenwich, Cantobuiy, Bath. Brighton, Bristol, and other weU-known destinations. A one week European tour is offered prior to Ihe IMOgiam, as are excursions to Nfoscow and St. Petersburg in late February.
Students pay regular UTS A tuition and fees, airfare, and program fees charged by AlFS forthe servicesdescribedabove. In general,any federal orstate financial «kl which a student receives may be i^jplied toward the cost of the program. Scholanhips are also available for London Semester participants.
The application deadline for the firing 1994 London Semester is October IS. JFor more informationabout the London Semester contact London Semester Jiumanities Cbordinalor. Dr. Alan E. Craven, in HB 4.03.16 or call 691-4374.
Tlw London SwnMlar effara tiM chMiM to MTfK wtilo mparlonclno tiM euMm of OrwM Bmain.
(I to r) John Wallace, Mary Cullinan. and Carol Flores stand beside the plaque for "Outstanding Mentorship in Higher Education" awarded to the university by the San Antonio Area Mentoring Association for excellence during the '92-'93 academic year.
Greeks dominate during rush
By Brian Wheeler   .
News Editor
The mall in the Humanities and Busi¬ ness (HB) building was covered in Greek banners and posters declaring the an¬ nual September rituals of the fraternity and sorority lush process. During the last month tables have been set up allow¬ ing new students and returning students to UTSA to leam more about each Greek oiganization. TheGreekenlistmentpro- cedures are a lengthy recruiting and se¬ lection period consisting of foimal and informal rush.
There are 11 fraternities on campus including: Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), Sigma Nu, Kappa Alpha Psi, Lambda Chi Alpha, IC^pa Sigma, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Delta Theta. Phi Gamma Delta (FUI), Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Tau Gamma, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. So¬ rorities number only six including: Al¬ pha Kappa Alpha (AKA), Alpha Omi- cron Pi, Alpha Sigma Alpha (ASA), DeltaSigmaTheta(DST),DeltaXi. .leta (DXT), and Sigma Kappa (SK).
Governing most of the fraternities is a body called the Interfratemity Council (IFC) and governing the sororities is the Panhellenic Council. A joint body con¬ sisting of members from each fraternity and sorority called the Greek Council mediates interactive Greek activities.
John Longoria, a member of Kan>aSigma, said, "The reason I joined a fraternity was to get involved with school. I was tired of just going to my classes and going home. Therc are a lot of events that one can par¬ ticipate in and meet a lot of friends."
Prospective male members or rushees are recruited during the first two weeks of school and meet at the IFC orienta¬ tion session to kick off a week of fraternity events. The orientation was held this year on Sept. 7. Events are designed to let rushees leam about the membership of a fra¬ ternity and let fraterni¬ ties select which rushees interest them.
Male students attend a Joint fraternity orientation session to leam more about fraternity life and what each separate organlzatton offers.
Jason Mittman, Interfratemity Coun¬ cil president, said, "We want to let msh- ees know we are concerned with more than just parties. Being part of a friendly brotherhood is the main point."
Mittman stated that the rush events were supposed to be "dry" which he defined as being free of the presence of
alcohol. "Neither members or rushees should be drinking alcohol at the events. It's an effort on behalf of the fratemities to show we offer more than that," said Mittman.
Only one possible infraction of the dry msh mle has been alleged. Lambda Chi Alpha is under investigation by the
IFC for the presence of alcohol at a rush event party on Sept. 10. IFC will await a judiciary hearing to decide if the rule was indeed broken.
Tony Lopez, sophomore rushee, said, "I think it can be fun whether we have alcohol or not. At the same time I think com. on pg. 2
New degree plans awaiting final approval
By Giselle Salinas
Contributing Writer
A Bachelors of Arts (BA) degree in Philosophy is expected to be approved by the coordinating board in October. It will be a standard, traditional degree comparable to the phitost^hy degrees at the University of Texas in Austin and at Texas A&M. About 25 students are expected to enroll in the spring of 1994. Maik H. Bemstein, Division of English, classics and philosophy says, "I encour¬ age everyone to look into the program of philosophy."
ArthurR. Miller, Mark H. Bemstein, Michael J. Almeida, Mark S. McLeod, and S.N. Tagore, who are current pro¬ fessors at UTSA will teach in the new department.
"The degree of Arts in Philosophy is considoed to be the best preparation for law school. Some of the other options this degree has is in the medical field and also a Ph.D. in philosophy," said Tagore of the English, classics, and philosc^y division.
Also up for review by the coordinat¬ ing board is a Masters of Arts (MA) in Art History degree.
Atthe UT system level, degreesawait-
ing approval include: BA in Communi¬ cations, BA in Mexican American Stud¬ ies, Masters of Taxation, Masters of Science in Psychology, Ph.D. in Educa¬ tional Leadership and a Ph.D. in.Com- puter Science.
The BA in Communication is ex¬ pected to arrive in the fall of 1994. The communication degree is anticipated to be one of the largest programs at the university. Compared to the philosophy degree which is expected to have only 45 majors within five years, the commu¬ nication {H^ogram is anticipating 600. The communication staff will be adding two new instmctors every year once the program is approved until fully staffed.
"Our degree is going to be different. It is going to be stressed for jobs in the future. We are looking to train students to the managerial level." said Dr. Alan Craven, director ofthe English, classics, and philosophy division.
If approved, the following areas of concentration in communication will be offered: speech communication, techni¬ cal communication, telecommunica¬ tions, and public relations. An esti¬ mated 35 new courses will be added for the proposed curriculum, including writ¬
ing courses and business courses.
The degree will involve a technical aspect but not traditional journalism, radio, or television broadcasts.
"It will give a big advantage over students who have been educated in the traditional bioatlcast program," said Craven. "What I hope to be able to do is give the students a degree that's even better than they h(^d they could get when they came to college."
David Hendricks, UTS A alumnus and executive editor 6f the San Antonio Express-News, wrote an article in the Express-News on what he thought ofthe communications degree. In it. he made it clear that the programs being devel¬ oped would provide jobs. At least 25 companies have made agreements to have intemships with UTSA for mana¬ gerial communications positions. There has been strong support from the sur¬ rounding San Antonio businesses for the telecommunications and technical communications concentrations result¬ ing in plans for later expansion.
A BA in Mexican American Studies is expected to be available toward the fall 1994 or spring 1995. Intwoorlhree years, 30 students are expected to de¬
clare this major. Cuirent faculty in various departments relative to Mexi¬ can American Studies will be teaching the classes for the proposed major.
Also, approximately 150 smdents are anticipated for a planned Bachelors of Business Administration in Tourism Management. Although it is awaiting approval of the University Assembly, it is expected to be included with other proposed majors in the fall of 1994. In addition to the present slaff, the depart¬ ment will hire more faculty to teach the classes pertaining to the new major.
New programs were the result of a university effort to fmd out what are UTSA's strengths and how the univer¬ sity can contribute to students and the community. Surveys were taken around campus and the community to estimate the devek)pment of the new programs. Tlie whole process involved two yean of planning.
The first step in apfnoval for new degrees is the UTSA Assembly followed by the University ofTexas Regents, and fmal approval is given by the Coordinat¬ ing Board for Higher Education.